The present invention relates to a novel safety device for a vehicle bench seat, which can be moved across an adjustable range through two lateral, parallel guide tracks within the vehicle and can be locked in various positions.
Some vehicles, particularly high-capacity vehicles, i.e. so-called vans, are nowadays equipped with several, e.g. three, rows of seats, of which especially the second row, but possibly alternatively or additionally also the third row, is designed as a bench seat that can be moved in the vehicle""s longitudinal direction. This allows, on the one hand, flexibility regarding the passengers"" legroom by being able to lock the bench seat in various positions within a certain adjustable range. On the other hand, by sliding the entire bench seat into a non-usage position, additionally usable space can be adjusted in some vehicles in order to be able to store luggage or other cargo.
Such bench seats of course must be equipped around their center with at least one anchoring device for a safety belt so that all passengers, including the one(s) in the center, can fasten their seat belts. Through the respective seat belt anchoring device, however, reaction power is introduced into the bench seat when breaking forcefully and during accidents (head-on and rear-end collisions). These forces can be so high that deformations of the entire bench seat and/or its supporting structure can occur. Subsequently, this can also lead to deformations in the area of the lateral guide tracks, in a worst-case scenario the entire bench seat may even be torn out, so that the passengers lose their restraint and are therefore exposed to extremely high risks of injuries.
The invention is therefore based on the task of raising the safety of such adjustable bench seats and thus reduce the risk for injuries for the passengers considerably.
According to the invention, this is accomplished with a safety device based on claim 1. Beneficial developments of the invention are included in the dependent claims.
In accordance with the invention, a novel safety device therefore consists of (at least) one safety rail that is arranged roughly in the center between the lateral sliding tracks and parallel to these tracks and of one safety sled that is guided in a relatively flexible manner at least across the adjustable range of the bench seat. The safety rail is fastened preferably in a stationary manner to the vehicle""s bottom beneath the bench seat, while the safety sled is allocated to the bench seat, i.e. is firmly fastened to the bottom configuration of the bench seat so that it is moveable jointly with the bench seat relative to the stationary safety rail. Kinematic reversal is certainly within the range of the invention. According to the invention, the safety sled is arranged in such a manner that it can move freely lengthwise to the safety rail, preferably in a non-contact manner in all directions, during normal sliding motion and in positions within the adjustable range of the bench seat. It is also feasible to prove support via support rollers or similar means through forces that point downward vertically, which is beneficial particularly in the case of heavy passengers or objects. The relative configuration between the safety rail and the safely sled moveable in the rail in accordance with the invention, however, is such that with irregular, particularly brake or crash-related, deformations within the bench seat area the safety sled interlocks with the safety rail. In such a case, an additional anchoring process of the bench seat takes place roughly in its center, effectively absorbing the reaction powers that are introduced. This feature safely avoids excess stress and resulting damage, particularly e.g. a complete detachment of the entire bench seat from its fasteners, within the area of the lateral guide tracks.
In a beneficial embodiment of the invention the safety device has been designed specifically for such bench seats that can be moved into a non-usage position beyond their actual adjustable range (usage range), particularly to increase the cargo area within the vehicle. In this embodiment, controllable stop devices are incorporated in accordance with this invention between the safety rail and the safety sled so thatxe2x80x94with a position of the seat back and/or seat cushion of the bench seat that is suitable for sittingxe2x80x94the sliding movement is limited to the actual adjustable range due to automatic activation of the stop devices and thus a sliding into the non-usage position is excluded, while further movement of the bench seat into the non-usage position is released by deactivating (releasing) the stop devices only during the folded non-usage position of the seat back and/or seat cushion of the bench seat. This beneficial embodiment represents a particularly important safety aspect since the bench seat must first be brought into a folded non-usage position in order to even be able to bring it into the non-usage position. This avoids the non-usage position from being able to be assumed with passengers sitting on the bench seat. In other words, this means that people can only sit on the bench seat if the bench seat is within its actual adjustable range, which means that it is effectively secured by the invented safety device.